One Snowy Night (Sweet Home, Alaska #1) - Patience Griffin Page 0,17
better, that they’d never gone to the party at all. But she’d never wish away the one night she and Donovan had been intimate. Though people at church and throughout Sweet Home whispered behind her back and gave her sideways glances as her pregnancy started to show, it didn’t matter now. Hope couldn’t imagine life without her daughter.
It was moments like these she understood why her mother had hated Hope after the accident . . . for Hope had taken her child away.
She shook off her feelings of regret, guilt, and sadness.
How she wished for a simpler time. But happiness and contentment were always out of reach. She pulled away from the Hungry Bear.
The way her thoughts were bombarding her and how queasy her stomach felt, she was worried she might not make it out to the lodge in one piece. To calm her nerves, she turned on the radio, and providentially, one of her favorite songs was playing—Casting Crowns’ “Voice of Truth.” It always spoke to her, telling her not to be afraid. Peace filled the car and she made the rest of the trip without her hands shaking as she clung to the steering wheel.
The song ended as the lodge’s circular driveway came into view. She was shocked to see more than one vehicle. There was an SUV and a truck. Confusion and panic washed over her, making her want to turn the car around and drive away. Who did Donovan have with him? His wife?
Adding to her discomfort, Hope had expected the place to be lit up, as it was back when Charles and Elsie Stone had run the lodge. But there was only a faint flicker of light coming from the picture window.
Frowning, Hope sat there for a long minute, contemplating what to do. Finally, she slipped from the car and went to the trunk. Using her cell phone as a flashlight, she rummaged through Donovan’s bags, looking for evidence of a wife, girlfriend, or bimbo who might be in the house with him. But there were no fresh vegetables or fruits, no feminine products, just a load of junk food that guys usually bought. She glanced at the window. Wouldn’t Donovan be keeping an eye out for his groceries, as was the case with most deliveries?
No shadow of a man was visible.
A huge part of her wanted to set the groceries on the front stoop, tap the doorbell, and run—an adult version of ding dong ditch. But Hope was no coward. She marched up the steps to the double front doors—trying not to care that she wasn’t put together, like his wife probably was. Before reaching for the doorbell, Hope straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. Instead of ringing the doorbell, she knocked.
She expected him to fling the door open, but it took a few minutes before there was sound on the other side. And when the door opened, instead of Donovan, a beautiful man in a parka stood there.
For a moment they both stood speechless. Finally, he smiled. “You must be Hope.” He yelled over his shoulder, “Donovan! You have company.”
“No, no.” Hope thrust the bags at him. “I’m just here to drop off groceries.”
Donovan must have been nearby, because he appeared at the beautiful man’s shoulder, frowning at her outstretched arms with the groceries dangling from her hands.
“Here. Take them.” Hope jiggled the bags.
“Take what?” Donovan asked.
“Your groceries.” She did a mini thrust this time. Whatever she was doing with her arms, she was trying to compel one of them to take the food so she could escape to her car.
The other man held the door wide. “Come in to get out of the cold.”
Donovan was shaking his head no, while the other man gently took her arm and pulled her inside.
“Let me take those.” Mr. Kind and Beautiful gave her a warm smile, the opposite of the Grinchy expression on Donovan’s face. “I’m Rick, by the way. Rick Miller, Donovan’s business manager. I’m sorry he’s being so rude.” Rick gave Donovan a pointed look before grabbing the bags and heading to the dining room table. “Go stand by the fire. You’re shaking.”
Yes, Hope was shaking, but it had nothing to do with the cold, and everything to do with the boy she used to love.
* * *
• • •
DONOVAN WAS SHOCKED for the second time in an hour. Why was Hope at the lodge? Was she trying to dig around in his life? “What are you doing here?”